Google Wallet may introduce physical payment cards

NFC left in the dust as Google switches its focus to programmable plastic cards.

Android Police is reporting, via an anonymous tipster, that there is a physical, re-programmable Google Wallet card on the horizon that will essentially consolidate all of a user's physical payment cards into one. While details are limited on how the service will actually work, leaked screenshots show that the card will function like a regular, swipe-able credit card and will default to the user’s preferred Google Wallet account.

Preliminary screenshots of the accompanying Android app show that the Google Wallet card will allow users to deposit and withdraw money to and from a "wallet balance," as well as transfer money to others with Google Wallet accounts. There is also evidence that the Wallet card will double as a transit card, though it’s unclear whether it would utilize the same microchip tapping mechanism that some transit authorities use, like Clipper in the Bay Area.

The idea is that users will only need to carry around their smartphone and one essential credit card—the Google Wallet card. It seems counterintuitive considering the big push that Google has made for NFC. However, it could help Google immensely in this multi-platform market, where handsets like the iPhone do not have NFC chips and come equipped with their own proprietary payment service. It may also help Google overcome its issues with carriers like Verizon, which once blocked Google Wallet's NFC functionality and is now giving priority to third-party mobile payment services like Isis.

If you're interested, you can sign up to stay abreast of launch announcements for Google's new Wallet program, which may include the new physical card.

"iPhone do not have NFC chips and come equipped with their own proprietary payment service"

Hmmm, perhaps a BT equipped card is the right solution for this, instead of the phone itself?

I can't wait to get rid of all my cards, but it's not entirely clear that NFC is going to be the solution that does it. Even if it does, the idea of having a separate physical card is very appealing to me - in spite of the obvious drawbacks (two things to carry, etc.).

It would also seem that Apple, for instance, could add NFC(like?) this via software, thereby supporting even the oldest iPhones and even some iPods.

Considering the fact this is working through Google Wallet, I can't imagine you wouldn't be able to do so through a web browser or your phone. Right now you can add/remove payment methods through the website or your phone, and you can revoke Wallet access from your phone from a computer, remotely, in the event you lost your phone.

I have to admit I'm skeptical. On one hand, I realize individual stores track purchases by card # and they no doubt share data. On the other hand, that doesn't mean they are certain two separate cards are the same household and this ensures that Google will know that. Maybe I'm just not embracing the brave new world of smartphone finance, but the privacy concerns are real, IMO.

Also... credit cards are not so large that "OMG! I only have to carry one card!" seems like such a big deal to me. Not to mention, one hopes a savvy person doesn't either have umpteen cards or that if they do, they don't carry them all the time. If you are worried about a single point of failure, just wait until your wallet gets stolen. That sucks big time.

What I wonder is if it adds the ability to have a whole bunch of cards that come from the same actual credit line. The purpose being that I could use a different number with every service, and then if I get ripped off I can know exactly who screwed up.

What I'd much rather see is a post-cc service that would let me authorize each automatic billing. I should be able to pre-authorize certain amounts on certain dates from certain billers, so I don't have to okay my netflix every month. But the day netflix raises their price I find out, and I can decide if it's time to cancel. If I do decide to cancel I shouldn't have to go to their special interface I should be able to decline payment with a message indicating I'd like to cancel. And I'd expect my netflix subscription to be quickly cancelled then.

P.S. - Sorry Netflix, I love your service you're just the first monthly biller that came to mind.

Even better if you could program rewards programs from various merchants and so on.

This is my biggest concern about Google Wallet.

Ever since they added the ability to add any credit card to Google Wallet, there was also a disclaimer saying that whether or not rewards are properly attributed to your various credit card accounts when making purchases through Wallet is up to the credit card provider. As far as I can tell, this is a bit ambiguous at the moment.

For example, if my rewards card gives me 5% cash back on Amazon purchases, and I make a purchase with Google Wallet, which is tied to that card, the charge may show up as "Google Wallet" rather than "Amazon" and there's no guarantee the 5% cash back will take effect.

Until that's cleared up, I'm a little wary about using Wallet for purchases where I would usually get rewards if done directly with the original card.

All questions I am eager to answer! I'm really skeptical about the transit thing myself.

The City of Albuquerque really surprised me by getting all of their transit route and schedule data into Google maps - and it works! (That's just very uncharacteristic, really.) So, unless The One Guy who managed that has left them, I'm ... hopeful. That would be very, very cool.

Hmmm, perhaps a BT equipped card is the right solution for this, instead of the phone itself?

It would also seem that Apple, for instance, could add NFC(like?) this via software, thereby supporting even the oldest iPhones and even some iPods.

I think the devices on both ends of a BT connection have to be powered, and they take power to hold the connection open. Your solution would essentially mean we'd have to charge our credit cards every night. NFC on the other hand is more akin to having a barcode, you can read it, but it's not really a back and forth communication.

For example, if my rewards card gives me 5% cash back on Amazon purchases, and I make a purchase with Google Wallet, which is tied to that card, the charge may show up as "Google Wallet" rather than "Amazon" and there's no guarantee the 5% cash back will take effect.

Until that's cleared up, I'm a little wary about using Wallet for purchases where I would usually get rewards if done directly with the original card.

Same here, I get like double warranty on electronics with my credit card, hence I use it to buy anything electronic. If the credit card company considers Google the merchant rather than Dell, do I get that? I'm guessing no, which is bad.

I'm very very curious on the mechanism for this. many folks are responding like the card itself gets reprogrammed to have different stripe info. I really hope this is NOT true because it would be a formidable for skimmers and ID thieves to use, even though it would be very cool and useful the rest of the time.

More likely I think, is implementing a card with a static number that routes through backend Google servers to control what actual payment method the card is associated with from moment to moment. This means you have to be online to change it's identity, but when your phone is offline it would still be handled exactly like a traditional credit/debit card.

This does mean that Google has the same view of what you are purchasing as your CC company would, and will be able to detect if you are more likely to spend your money in Bars or Christian Bookstores, and target advertising as appropriate. The flip side of this could be some really cool applications like dynamically taking expenses and applying them to a card based on balance, rate, rewards, and/or category. So I swipe my card at the grocery store and it comes out of the debit account, but if I buy something online it puts it on my card with the best customer protection, or if I book a hotel room it can match the programs that my cards and the hotel participate in to get the best reward, or if I buy a prescription medication it comes off my FSA card.

I doubt we will see any such complexities at launch, but even in a very simple format this could replace 5+ cards in my wallet, anything to look less like George Costanza.

Wasn't NFC one of these shiny features that the iPhone5 just so obviously didn't have and indicated that Apple's decline was imminent? And now we see Google dumping out. NFC apparently stood for "No Fricking Chance."

NFC has been a solution in search of a problem for quite some time. And now Google is apparently planning to tell people they need to carry another card. I already have on Visa card thatI use for debit and credit. What possible advantage could there be to me to use Google's service instead? Visa is an established brand that's accepted everywhere. Why do I NEED a replacement?

And, as other people have mentioned, Apple has been attacked for not adding NFC to the iPhone, but this is another indication that Apple made the prudent decision, instead of the hardware makers that just threw in new technology just to see what might stick. Please remember that the next time you're criticizing Apple for not using whatever is trendy and unproven.

I could see this being cool for convenience and keeping a small wallet, but how many people have so many credit cards and rewards programs and shopping cards that this really solves a problem?

I have maybe eight cards in my wallet, and this would only make it six, since it can't really help me with my insurance card, driver's license, door card for work, etcetera. Am I odd that way?

I'm Married Without Children, not looking forward to 40 years old, and this is what I have that is replaceable:Debit Card for personal accountDebit Card for small busness account3 personal credit cards (1 dedicated to business expenses)Flexible Spending Account Debit (Health care pretax savings program in the US)(hopefully soon) BitInstant BitCoin Debit card

So 7 to 1 consolidation for me, that's .03*(7-1)=~1/5th of an inch thinner wallet.

More likely I think, is implementing a card with a static number that routes through backend Google servers to control what actual payment method the card is associated with from moment to moment. This means you have to be online to change it's identity, but when your phone is offline it would still be handled exactly like a traditional credit/debit card.

As it is now, Google Wallet on your phone is essentially a static number that bills whatever credit/debit card you have designated as the primary within your GW account. Transactions on your bank's site show that Chase (or whoever) is paying Google.

I suspect that this is the same thing, Google essentially hands you a debit card that passes any transactions off to your credit card company. You probably don't need a phone handy. If you have a Paypal or Serve debit card and a zero balance in there, it's essentially the same idea.

The concept of Google Wallet is awesome, but it just doesn't work. Lots of stores have an NFC ready payment system that is supposedly Google Wallet compatible. My phone recognizes it, and then fails with some obscure error message.

People would love to reduce the amount of stuff they have to carry. It would be nice to go for a job with just your phone and keys, and not need to carry a wallet, and still be able to buy stuff. Also, most people have easier access to their phone than to their credit cards inside of their wallets.

What I'd much rather see is a post-cc service that would let me authorize each automatic billing. I should be able to pre-authorize certain amounts on certain dates from certain billers, so I don't have to okay my netflix every month. But the day netflix raises their price I find out, and I can decide if it's time to cancel. If I do decide to cancel I shouldn't have to go to their special interface I should be able to decline payment with a message indicating I'd like to cancel. And I'd expect my netflix subscription to be quickly cancelled then.

You can already do this with online bill pay if your bank provides it. I have almost all my recurring bills set up in my online banking so at any time I can go in and change dates, amounts, cancel payments, etc. There are oddballs like Clearwire that wanted me to fill out a form for a credit check before they would put bill payment control in my hands so I didn't do it.

There are oddballs like Clearwire that wanted me to fill out a form for a credit check before they would put bill payment control in my hands so I didn't do it.

You should avoid Clearwire under all circumstances in my experience, especially if they want to do some kind of credit check or something. They're a slimy company, and I personally had experience with them attempting to turn my "credit check so we can loan you the hardware" into trying to sign me up for services without my consent.

Wasn't NFC one of these shiny features that the iPhone5 just so obviously didn't have and indicated that Apple's decline was imminent? And now we see Google dumping out. NFC apparently stood for "No Fricking Chance."

This is not at all Google dumping NFC. This is (allegedly) Google expanding their Wallet service to be more accessible, even when NFC isn't available. It may seem counterintuitive, but this could actually help to accelerate the deployment and use of NFC.

Consider the following: John Doe has Google Wallet installed on his Android phone with NFC, but there are only two stores anywhere nearby that currently support NFC payments. He's interested in the service, but frankly it's not worth his time to bother setting up a Wallet account just to be able to use it in the occasions he goes to those two stores.

But now all of a sudden there are physical Google Wallet cards available that work just like credit cards, which are accepted everywhere. With this change, John decides that it is now worth his time to set up an account, because he can use it everywhere with his physical card, and on the occasions he goes to the two stores that do NFC payments, he has an even easier and more convenient payment experience. Now that he's using the service and is aware of the extra convenience of paying with his phone when possible, he might start mentioning to other stores / vendors that he'd like that convenience there too. With enough people exerting this kind of pressure, more stores will eventually roll out NFC payment terminals.

Obviously, it's all hypothetical, I'm not saying this will definitely happen. The point, though, is that I'm pretty sure Google is much more interested in people using their Google Wallet service than they are in people paying with NFC. They might think that NFC provides the best experience, but it's not really the point. However, as long as NFC is the only option, the actual service will have a much harder time catching on.

I could see this being cool for convenience and keeping a small wallet, but how many people have so many credit cards and rewards programs and shopping cards that this really solves a problem?

I have maybe eight cards in my wallet, and this would only make it six, since it can't really help me with my insurance card, driver's license, door card for work, etcetera. Am I odd that way?

Let's say you lose your wallet. Would you rather have to cancel three or four cards from various institutions or remotely disable just one from a web browser? That's a benefit you're forgetting about.

We don't know that's necessarily true. It's a "gatekeeper" card -- and that means someone with the card may have gotten through the gate. I think you'd still have to cancel all the linked cards *and* then Google card.

I could see this being cool for convenience and keeping a small wallet, but how many people have so many credit cards and rewards programs and shopping cards that this really solves a problem?

I have maybe eight cards in my wallet, and this would only make it six, since it can't really help me with my insurance card, driver's license, door card for work, etcetera. Am I odd that way?

Let's say you lose your wallet. Would you rather have to cancel three or four cards from various institutions or remotely disable just one from a web browser? That's a benefit you're forgetting about.

We don't know that's necessarily true. It's a "gatekeeper" card -- and that means someone with the card may have gotten through the gate. I think you'd still have to cancel all the linked cards *and* then Google card.

Google Wallet is essentially one card that charges your other cards online. So if your Google Wallet card was stolen, only it's information would be up for grabs. Any payment card you use with it would be safe. You wouldn't have to cancel the others because it wouldn't be possible to get to them from that end of the equation.

Hmmm, perhaps a BT equipped card is the right solution for this, instead of the phone itself?

It would also seem that Apple, for instance, could add NFC(like?) this via software, thereby supporting even the oldest iPhones and even some iPods.

I think the devices on both ends of a BT connection have to be powered, and they take power to hold the connection open. Your solution would essentially mean we'd have to charge our credit cards every night. NFC on the other hand is more akin to having a barcode, you can read it, but it's not really a back and forth communication.

Point of order: NFC is an extension of RFID technology and as such it is possible for there to be a "back-and-forth" between the active transceiver and the "passive" transponder (the RFID "chip") depending on the capabilities of transponder chip. The chip can operate read-only and respond with its stored ID or it can accept new data in a read/write capacity—either to modify the stored data or replace it entirely.

Wasn't NFC one of these shiny features that the iPhone5 just so obviously didn't have and indicated that Apple's decline was imminent? And now we see Google dumping out. NFC apparently stood for "No Fricking Chance."

This is not at all Google dumping NFC. This is (allegedly) Google expanding their Wallet service to be more accessible, even when NFC isn't available. It may seem counterintuitive, but this could actually help to accelerate the deployment and use of NFC.

Consider the following: John Doe has Google Wallet installed on his Android phone with NFC, but there are only two stores anywhere nearby that currently support NFC payments. He's interested in the service, but frankly it's not worth his time to bother setting up a Wallet account just to be able to use it in the occasions he goes to those two stores.

But now all of a sudden there are physical Google Wallet cards available that work just like credit cards, which are accepted everywhere. With this change, John decides that it is now worth his time to set up an account, because he can use it everywhere with his physical card, and on the occasions he goes to the two stores that do NFC payments, he has an even easier and more convenient payment experience. Now that he's using the service and is aware of the extra convenience of paying with his phone when possible, he might start mentioning to other stores / vendors that he'd like that convenience there too. With enough people exerting this kind of pressure, more stores will eventually roll out NFC payment terminals.

Obviously, it's all hypothetical, I'm not saying this will definitely happen. The point, though, is that I'm pretty sure Google is much more interested in people using their Google Wallet service than they are in people paying with NFC. They might think that NFC provides the best experience, but it's not really the point. However, as long as NFC is the only option, the actual service will have a much harder time catching on.

^^^This. Its baby steps people. NFC works where the rest of those "tap to pay" things are on card scanners (McDs, lots of big national retailers) To be honest its not that uncommon. What IS uncommon is being able to actually use Google Wallet, as the biggest US carrier has them blocked out. But you make a physical card with it, one that unifies all your cards, and people carrying multiple cards find use for it. Then, while using the service they find out that their phone is able to do mobile payments, but their carrier is blocking it. This puts pressure on the carrier to allow Google Wallet to exist on their system (for whatever reason Verizon prefers the terrible Isis system... monetary purposes are involved I'm sure). You start stacking up using other services (transit cards, etc) and it becomes a lot more valuable.

As was said previously, NFC is a solution searching for a problem. I would disagree with that slightly. NFC doesn't have widespread adoption for a couple reasons - infrastructure, entrenchment, and security concerns. Security concerns will always exist, with physical cards or not, but its a new system (relatively... its been on Mastercards for many years now) but as it grows in popularity, those will diminish to the same level as physical cards. Entrenchment of the existing plastic system is a much bigger issue, along with infrastructure. This allows Google Wallet to edge into both of those - take use of existing infrastructure that currently doesn't support NFC, and break into the entrenchment of the plastic industry.

NFC is growing. I don't know if it'll eventually be the ideal solution, but those "tap cards" you are referring to on transits are a form of NFC, they use RFID frequencies. That is essentially what NFC is. These are becoming much more widespread (I have 3 of them currently, between work, transit, and the like - none of them actually cards besides my Google Wallet account on my S3) once they start integrating with other services, NFC becomes a heck of a lot more useful. Starting up plastic as well is a smart approach though to get their foot in the door and push their priorities with NFC as well though.

I don't see how Google Wallet consolidates credit cards. At the point of sale, does it allow you to choose which credit card is being charged behind the scenes? If not, there are many instances where I want to charge a specific card at the POS, for reasons such as balance, rewards, etc. This means I still have to carry the cards around.

All I can say is that some heads probably rolled at Apple when this was leaked. Apple would have loved to come out with this -- imagine if this had been announced at the iphone 5 event. Can almost hear Steve Jobs screaming from his grave..."Schmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidt!!!!!!!" Anyways, I think it is a brilliant idea.

I don't see how Google Wallet consolidates credit cards. At the point of sale, does it allow you to choose which credit card is being charged behind the scenes? If not, there are many instances where I want to charge a specific card at the POS, for reasons such as balance, rewards, etc. This means I still have to carry the cards around.

As explained, Google Wallet essentially acts as a proxy for your credit cards. You can change the "source" of that proxy funding whenever you like via your phone, the web, whatever.

You get a Mastercard issued by Google, funded by your Google Wallet account.You link your current credit and debit cards to your Google Wallet account as a funding source.

If you purchase things at Best Buy, you pay with your GW card, and Google (instantly) bills one of your credit/debit cards for the amount you now owe Google. The purchase shows up on your statement as GOOGLE**BESTBUYSTORE124455*SEATTLE or whatever. At the point of sale you don't get to pick anything, since at the point of sale you're paying with a card Google has issued you (either a real card or via NFC from your phone). Unless something has changed or is changing, since Amex sees Google as the merchant, you don't get rewards or anything for shopping at Best Buy with your Amex card.

Note that all this is based on using the current version on my phone. Obviously they could change something, but just adding a physical card isn't likely to change their whole model, they're just doing that to expand usage beyond those with an NFC-equipped phone.